Iron Man gets heavy start
2008-05-05 09:48
Los Angeles - Iron Man, the latest
Marvel comics title brought to the big screen, grossed an
estimated $32.5m from its first full day in North
American theatres, independent box office analysts reported on
Saturday.
That tally, generated from Friday showings in some 4 100
US and Canadian cinemas, put Iron Man on track to meet or
exceed the $85m-plus opening weekends posted by sequels
to two other Marvel franchises - Spider-Man and X-Men.
Iron Man stars Robert Downey JR as a billionaire
industrialist and playboy named Tony Stark who wrestles with a
midlife crisis as he invents a high-tech suit of armour that
transforms him into a superhero.
The movie, which cost about $150m to make and
another $75m to market, co-stars Oscar winner Gwyneth
Paltrow and has drawn mostly favourable reviews.
Distributed through Viacom Inc's <VIAb.N> Paramount
Pictures, the film is the first self-financed production from
Marvel Studios <MVL.N> and is being closely watched as the
first major release of the summer movie season.
The 18-weekend stretch from May through August can account
for as much as 40% of Hollywood's total domestic box
office receipts for a year.
Neither Paramount nor Marvel issued first-day figures for
Iron Man.
More than 2 000 theatres
But two box office tracking services, Media By Numbers and
Box Office Mojo, both reported the film's estimated Friday take
at $32.5m, not including receipts from Thursday night
"preview" screenings in more than 2 000 theatres.
Media By Numbers estimated preview grosses at about $6m. Box Office Mojo put that number at $5.5m.
Iron Man's opening on Friday haul puts in on par with X2:
X-Men United, which grossed $31.2m its first Friday and
went on to amass $85.6m in receipts through its first
Sunday, all in the same May weekend five years ago.
If Friday's estimates hold up, Media By Numbers president
Paul Dergarabedian said he expects Iron Man to best X2 and
perhaps even meet or surpass the $88.2m grossed by
Spider-Man 2 in its first weekend in July 2004.
"It might be a little higher than X-2 because I think
this one's going to have better word of mouth than that movie,"
Dergarabedian said. "Whether it beats Spider-Man 2 remains to
be seen."
Spider-Man 3 holds the record for biggest opening weekend
of all time, $151m last May, while the first
Spider-Man stands at No 1 for a non-sequel film - $114.8m in the first weekend of May 2002.